A Summer of Chances
by Ginger1280
Summary: Hisoka felt his life was returning to normal after his temporary partner Alistair left. But when he and Tsuzuki are invited to stay with Alistair in Virgina for the summer, he finds new friends, a bit of a summer fling, and a chance to be a real kid.
1. Do you wish you could be a normal kid?

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Alistair and the idea....... *sigh*

Ginger: Okay, this is kind of a sequel to An unconventional new partner. It definitely takes Hisoka out of his comfort zone because I figured it was time Hisoka got to be a normal kid for a while. It will be something of a crossover with my Code Geass stories which involves Alistair as well. But either way, I hope you guys can enjoy this story!But as I always say, if you like it, let me know and leave a review so I know to continue, if you don't, you don't have to be nasty about it, which goes along the lines of 'if you can't say anything nice, then don't say nothin' at all' I'm not making you read this, nor is anyone else, so keep your comments to yourself. Constructive criticism is usually accepted because I do have grammar issues I know, and my mind thinks faster then I can type. So if something happens let me know nicely and I will fix the error, thank you.

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It had been months since Hisoka had spent only a couple of days with a temporary partner while Tsuzuki had been sick after being poisoned by an obnoxious little demon. He felt like life was finally a routine, but Tsuzuki was constantly bringing up a strange subject.

"Soka, don't you ever wish you could be a normal kid?" Tsuzuki asked one day as Hisoka sat at his desk, focused on a report he was in the middle of.

Hisoka gave him a curious glance. "I don't know." he shrugged. "Why would you ask something like that?"

"Curiosity." said Tsuzuki. "If you could be a normal kid for one day, have normal friends, and a normal life, would you take the opportunity?"

Hisoka sat, thinking hard. "I suppose I would." he said honestly, tapping his pen on his desk. "Of course, it's not like such an opportunity really comes along in one's lifetime." he said, then he went back to work.

He never noticed the sly smile on Tsuzuki's face. One that was unusual for him, because it meant he was planning something.

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After he finished up his last report, Hisoka let out a sigh of relief.

"All done for the night." he said with a smile.

"Already? That was quick Hisoka." said Tsuzuki, who glanced at his inbox which was still half full. "You're being quite productive today."

"Yes, and I noticed you've been doing the opposite." Hisoka sighed as he stood up. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to take this to Mr. Tatsumi really quick."

But before he could take a step, the door to their office opened and Tatsumi was standing in the doorway.

"Mr. Tatsumi, I was just coming to give you my last report." said Hisoka honestly.

"Thank you Kurosaki." said Tatsumi taking the manila folder.

"Did you need something Tatsumi?" Tsuzuki asked.

Tatsumi smiled and it caught Hisoka by surprise, unable to figure out why Tatsumi was so happy.

"Actually yes. I just got a letter from Mr. Hadrian. He wants your help in the U.S. Tsuzuki." said Tatsumi.

Hisoka blinked and he crooked his head to the side. "To the U.S.? Why does he need Tsuzuki? And what about me?"

"I don't know what he needs Tsuzuki for exactly, but you're to go with him. He said you two will be there for at least a couple of months."

"Where in the U.S.?" Hisoka asked, feeling completely bewildered as he scratched the back of his head.

"Somewhere in Virginia. Williamsburg or something like that." said Tatsumi. "He said something about flying out there too. He sent two plane tickets for the two of you."

"Why would we fly?" Tsuzuki asked.

"I don't know, I don't question him. I just follow his orders. He's overridden Enma-Diaoh's decision to keep you here. He said you two are to stay with him in Virginia." said Tatsumi. "Of course, he didn't tell my why he needed the two of you. He just said to send you out there. You two have a flight from the Nagasaki airport first thing tomorrow morning. Which means Tsuzuki, you need to have your inbox empty before you leave tonight."

Tsuzuki just let out a childish whine as he hit his head on the desk.

Hisoka still felt as if his head was spinning in confusion and he leaned on the edge of his desk to keep himself steady. "If we're going to be gone for a couple of months, who's going to take care of the Kyushu block?" he asked.

"Mr. Hadrian is sending a couple of replacements from the European sector. He said think of it as something of an exchange program between guardians and angels."

"Umm…. Okay." he said slowly.

"Anyway, since you're done you may go home Kurosaki." said Tatsumi.

"I think I'll stay and help Tsuzuki finish up his reports." said Hisoka honestly.

"Really Soka?" Tsuzuki asked hopefully.

"As you wish Kurosaki. I'll see you both in the morning then." he said, then he turned and left.

"Are you really going to help me with my reports Hisoka? You can go home if you'd like." Tsuzuki said honestly.

"If we're flying, I'll just sleep on the plane." said Hisoka, picking up half of Tsuzuki's stack. He began to turn to walk away, but he paused when he felt Tsuzuki gently grasp his elbow. He turned to see a sincere look on Tsuzuki's face.

"Thanks a lot Hisoka." he said.

"I don't understand why we're going to the U.S. of all places." Hisoka sighed, feeling confused.

He saw Tsuzuki smile.

"I do. Trust me, you'll be happy there." he said.

Hisoka couldn't help but stare. He couldn't place Tsuzuki's emotions. It was something along the lines of kindness and happiness, and something else he couldn't read.

"Why would I be happy? We're going out there to work." Hisoka said.

"I'm going out there to do the work. You're just coming along for the ride." said Tsuzuki.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hisoka growled irritably.

"I can't tell you that. Alistair has something planned. That's all I can say."

Hisoka was about to say something somewhat smart and asinine, but Tsuzuki just grinned before focusing on his file. So he just sighed as he sat down at his desk and helped Tsuzuki finish the last of the reports before they headed home together.

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Ginger: I hope you guys all like this story, it'll get much more interesting as the story goes on I promise! The first chapter is never really the best one now is it?


	2. Jetlag, humor and fuzzy guardians

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Yami no Matsuei or Code geass....... don't I wish.

Ginger: I hope you guys like this story. It'll be confusing for a while, my stories usually are, but I promise if you guys give it a chance you'll like it. As always, please leave a nice review if you like it, if not... I don't give a damn about your opinion and you don't need to be reading past chapter one. Anyway, enjoy!

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Hisoka had to admit, he didn't get much sleep during the night, so the plane trip had become something of a blur to him as he drifted in and out of consciousness, using Tsuzuki's shoulder as a pillow. It had been a nearly twenty hour flight, and that was non-stop.

Hisoka was feeling some serious jet lag as they arrived in Virginia in the middle of the night, practically loosing a whole day. Or did they gain a day? He was so confused he didn't even want to try and think about it.

"Wow….. Talk about a time difference." Hisoka yawned as they stepped off the plane in Reagan National Airport. "I'll never get how business people can stand going across so many time zones."

He shook his head after another yawn, but winced as his head began to pound.

"You alright Soka?" Tsuzuki asked concerned as Hisoka swayed slightly.

"My head hurts." Hisoka muttered grouchily as they walked through the concourse.

"I'm sure it does."

Hisoka starred at Tsuzuki who was grinning.

"Why aren't you affected by jet lag?" he muttered, narrowing his eyes.

"I don't know. I'm just not." Tsuzuki shrugged. "I suppose it's best that one of us can still walk straight and function properly."

Hisoka felt Tsuzuki grasp his arm as he started to sway again.

"I guess you've got a point." he sighed.

They were both quiet as they walked through the security check point out to the main concourse, Hisoka wincing at the noises surrounding him, making his head worse.

"Now where's Alistair?" Tsuzuki muttered, looking around, "He said he'd meet us here."

Hisoka looked around, unsure of how such a large man would be able to blend in, especially in his black silk uniform.

But then they heard the familiar British accent.

"Asato! Hisoka! Over here!"

They turned to their left and saw a large man running up to them.

Hisoka starred.

The man looked like Mr. Alistair, but he was in what looked like a green flight suit and as he got closer, Hisoka could see the tags on it which read, 'U.S. Navy' and 'Cmdr Leon Berkenbridge'. There was a patch on his shoulder which had a picture of a top hat with gloves and a cane and said 'VFA-114 Tophatters.'

"Sorry I was running a little late, I rushed here as soon as I got off work and NAS Oceana is a good two and a half hours away."

"Mr. Alistair?" Hisoka mumbled tiredly.

The man smiled and gently lifted Hisoka onto his left shoulder. "It feels strange to see you after nearly twenty years." he said with a smile.

Hisoka starred down at him. "Twenty years?! You disappeared from the medical department a couple of months ago!" he said, his green eyes wide with confusion.

"To you. The reason I disappeared was because I was taken by the high elder. I was reborn a half mortal, and I've been one for the last twenty one years. Angels can bend time in very strange ways."

"I'll say." Hisoka sighed, resting his head on his arm which was nestled in Alistair's white and blue hair.

"Just so you know, my name has changed too. I've been Leon Berkenbridge for the last thirteen years."

"So then what do I call you, Mr. Berkenbridge?"

"It's the name I'm used to now, and Asato, you can just call me Leon."

"Leon? That'll take some time to get used to." Tsuzuki mumbled as they began to walk through the airport, people starring at Hisoka on Alistair…. Make that Leon's shoulder.

"Jet lag Hisoka?" Leon asked kindly, patting Hisoka's knee.

"Yeah." Hisoka muttered. But he paused when he saw something on Leon's finger. He lifted the man's giant hand for a closer look. "Is this what I think it is?" he asked, turning the thick platinum and gold ring.

"What do you think it is?" Leon asked with a smile.

"A wedding band?"

"Then yes, it is what you think it is. I got married last spring." said Leon honestly.

"That's nice, what's her name?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Sahara Millameton . She's an officer in the Marines. We have daily quarrels over who's better, Navy or Marines."

"I'm finding it somewhat strange that you're suddenly in the U.S. Military." said Hisoka slowly.

"I've been flying for nearly eight years." said Leon honestly. "It's a living."

"A living…..?"

"Alright, a living and a hobby. I love to fly. It makes me act like Tsuzuki around sugar." said Leon giggling suddenly.

"And I thought you were weird Tsuzuki?" Hisoka sighed feeling somewhat strange about the giant's childish giggles. "What do you fly?"

"F-18s. I fly off of aircraft carriers. Nothing beats the rush of being launched off a ship going from zero to two hundred and fifty miles and hour in three seconds. Well….. There's playing chicken going mach two after breaking the sound barrier, but only a couple people are brave enough to do that with me." he said honestly.

"Oh gee, I wonder why?" Hisoka muttered sarcastically.

"You know, you remind me of a scene from one of my favorite movies." said Leon. "It goes as such. 'Now the world is full of things I'm sure we should all be as happy as. But are we? No. Definitely no, positively no, decidedly no! Uh uh. Short people, have long faces."

Hisoka starred as Leon made a strange face.

"'long people have short faces.'" he said, scrunching up his neck. "Big people have little humor." he said stretching himself upward. Then he scrunched himself up. "And little people have no humor at all!" he said quickly.

Tsuzuki laughed so hard he almost toppled over and Hisoka just felt like he was riding on the shoulder of a giant child.

"I'm lost." Hisoka sighed.

"It was well before your time." said Leon with a chuckle. "To be honest, it was well before my current time. It was from a song called 'Make 'em laugh.' sung by Donald O'Connor in the movie 'singing in the rain.' It came out in 1952."

"Well you definitely made Tsuzuki laugh." Hisoka muttered, resting his head on Leon's again.

"You're tired Hisoka, why don't you go to sleep?" Leon suggested as Hisoka let out a tired yawn. "Especially because we have a two hour drive home."

"I think sleeping is a wonderful idea." Hisoka mumbled, resting his cheek in Leon's fluffy hair. With one more tired yawn, he drifted off to sleep.

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Several hours later, Hisoka woke up to someone covering him with something like a blanket. He opened his eyes to find that he was in a room with a dim light above his head. He looked around to find that the light was coming from several small paper lanterns strung along the wall above the headboard of the bed he was in.

"Go back to sleep Hisoka. It'll help with the jet lag."

Hisoka looked up to see Leon who had tucked him into a large bed.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"We're home." said Leon with a kind smile, gently patting Hisoka's chest.

"Where's home?"

"The historic district of Yorktown Virginia."

"Mr. Berkenbridge….. Why are we here?" Hisoka asked, finally voicing his curiosity.

"Because I need Asato's help with something that I consider very important. You on the other hand, are just here for the summer."

"Why? What am I supposed to do if not work?" Hisoka said stubbornly.

"Make some friends. Explore, be a kid for once Hisoka."

Hisoka paused, remember the questions that Tsuzuki had been asking him lately.

"Hisoka, do you ever wish that you could be a normal kid for a while?" Tsuzuki had asked. "If you had a chance to be a kid for a day, would you take the opportunity? Wouldn't you like to be a normal kid, with friends that only spend their summer days wondering what to do instead of wondering who's soul you have to take next? Don't you wish you could have the life of an average teenager for a little while?"

And his answer had been, "An opportunity like that never really comes along in one's life."

He looked at Leon with a bewildered look.

But Leon just smiled and gently ran a hand through Hisoka's hair. "I think you'll get along well with my son and his friends."

"Your son?"

"His name is Lelouch, and he was rescued from another world. His past isn't exactly happy either. But I think you'll like him. He needed a chance to be a kid too, just like you."

Hisoka couldn't tell what he was feeling at the moment, his body was really too tired to react. But he felt very strange. "So I'm just here to be a kid for the summer?" he asked slowly.

"Essentially yes. Even Seiichiro and Chief Konoe agreed that it would be a good idea for you to accompany Asato out here and have a nice summer for once."

"And back home?"

"I had Malachai send a couple of our subordinates out there temporarily to take your places. I think Seiichiro will be pretty happy with them. Jonathan and Alexis have an incredible work ethic which means they'll get all of their paper work done before Seiichiro can ask for it."

Hisoka finally smiled a little. "I think if that's the case, Mr. Tatsumi wouldn't want us back, he'd want to keep your subordinates."

"I wouldn't doubt it." said Leon with a chuckle. "Now go to sleep Hisoka, you've got a long day ahead of you."

"Okay." Hisoka said, letting himself relax and sink into the soft mattress. "Goodnight Mr. Berkenbridge."

"Goodnight Hisoka."

Hisoka closed his eyes with a sigh, but then he felt an odd weight on the bed next to him and he sat bolt upright just to see a large orange tiger laying down beside him. He tensed up and felt himself shake a bit.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." said Leon quickly, trying to reassure him. "This is Shasta. She's one of the family guardians. They originally came from the Shinichiro family in Japan, now they're in our family. She's here to protect you in all aspects. Physically, mentally, and emotionally."

"Emotionally?" he asked, slowly leaning away as she tried to sniff his face.

"Yes. If you're ever sad or upset over anything, she'll do her best to make you smile. Though be forewarned. She loves attention and affection. Especially kisses on the nose."

Hisoka felt himself scoot dangerously towards the edge of the bed. "If I kiss her on the nose, will she bite off mine?" he mumbled slowly, balancing on the edge of the mattress.

"I wouldn't do that! If I bite off your nose you won't kiss mine!" the tiger said in a shrill girly voice.

"She talks!"

"Of course she does. They all do. Lelouch has a guardian named Sandy, and I have Shasta's mother Topanga. We call her Topi."

"Kiss please?" Shasta asked, rolling over onto her back, her head in Hisoka's lap.

Hisoka cautiously leaned forward, and quickly touched his lips to Shasta's cold nose.

"That wasn't a kiss!" she protested, rolling over onto her stomach.

"It…. It wasn't…..?"

"No! That wasn't even a peck!"

"Then…. What do you consider a kiss…..?" he asked slowly.

Hisoka jumped and tensed up when he felt fuzz and whiskers and the tip of Shasta's tongue press against his cheek with a loud, 'SMACK!' as she kissed him.

"That's a kiss!" she said happily.

"Oh…. Umm… okay…." he said. He gave her a small kiss with a light smacking sound. "Better?"

"Better, not quite a big kiss, but it's progress." she said snuggling against him.

Hisoka gasped as she wrapped a large paw around his waist and pulled him closer to her, away from the edge of the bed.

Leon just chuckled from his spot by the door. "Take good care of him Shasta."

"Promise Mr. Berkenbridge!" she said cheerfully.

"Goodnight you two." he said with a smile, then he left the room.

"Lay down Soka! You need to go to sleep." she said sternly.

Hisoka slowly did as he was told, not wanting to anger the large guardian with sharp teeth.

"Goodnight Soka." she said, giving him another whiskery kiss.

Hisoka felt slightly nervous. He couldn't feel any emotions from anywhere in the house, figuring it meant Leon had put up a large barrier.

"I won't bite, I promise." she said kindly.

After a few moments, Hisoka felt too tired to protest, so he quietly drifted off to sleep, curling up against the guardian's warm furry chest.

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Ginger: Okay, we're finally getting somewhere, so keep reading guys, it'll get better!


	3. breakfast, family and confusion

Disclaimer:I don't own Hisoka, Tsuzuki, Lelouch, or Suzaku. I own the Berkenbridge family though! MWAHHAHAHAHAH!

Ginger: Like I said, this'll keep getting a little stranger, but if you can get past the confusion, it'll get funny!

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The next morning, he woke up to find large fuzzy orange paws wrapped around him which tightened slightly as he yawned.

"Morning Soka." the tiger yawned. "Sleep well?"

"I guess." he muttered, trying to sit up. "What time is it?"

"It's about ten which means it's time for breakfast, and Mr. Berkenbridge is off today!" she said excitedly.

Hisoka suddenly caught a whiff of something drifting through the vents and it made him hungry.

"It smells like….. Waffles!" Shasta said excitedly, her nose in the air as she sniffed loudly. "And eggs! Cheese…. Sausage! Yummy! Big breakfast!"

Hisoka, wiggled his way out of paws before he climbed out of bed, finding himself still in his clothes from the day before. He stretched a bit, before he walked over to the window and opened the curtains to see a grassy yard with a wood fence, a few trees and a swing set.

It was apparently a bright, sunny summer day with blue skies and very few clouds Everywhere he looked the grass was a beautiful green and there were flowers growing in the neighbor's yard. All of the houses around the one he was in were all older Victorian style homes.

"It's a wonderful day out isn't it?"

Hisoka whirled around to see Leon standing in the doorway with a smile.

"I've never seen such a clear day before." he admitted.

"Well you can go outside after you come downstairs and eat. Breakfast is about ready."

"Hey Mr. Berkenbridge, did you put up a barrier around the house? Is that why I can't feel anything?" he asked curiously.

"That's exactly why." said Leon. "Now then, are you coming? You're the only one not downstairs."

"Coming." Hisoka said, then he followed Leon downstairs to the dinning room.

There was a large table where Tsuzuki was seated next to a little boy and a little girl, on the other side of the table were two teenage boys that looked about Hisoka's age.

Hisoka took a seat beside the boy with hair like Leon's.

"Morning Hisoka." he said with a cheerful smile.

"Morning…." he said, somewhat surprised by the boy's eyes.

They were the same violet color as Tsuzuki's.

"I'm Lelouch."

"I'm Suzaku." said the dark brown haired boy with green eyes and wire rimmed glasses.

"I'm Mercy!" the little girl piped up.

"I'm Kit." said the little boy, with an accent that made him sound like a squeaky version of Leon.

"Kit?" he asked curiously.

"Kristopher Korringthander Kannington Berkenbridge." he said proudly.

"His last name used to be Khristopherson too." said Lelouch with a chuckle.

"I would hate to have to write that whole name on paper." Tsuzuki admitted.

"Hence why we just call him Kit." said Leon with a smile, bringing a large plate of waffles and another dish of scrambled eggs and setting them on the table.

"Daddy, are Uncle Lloyd and Uncle Braydon bringing Ainslie and Ally to play today?" Mercy asked.

"They'll be here around lunch time Mercy."

Hisoka felt curious about the family.

"Uncle Lloyd and Uncle Braydon?" he asked.

"Yeah, our history teacher who's engaged to Suzaku's formerly sociopathic boss." said Lelouch with a smile. "Ainslie and Allie are their daughters."

"Twin empaths." said Suzaku. "They're not very strong, but boy do they like to try and cause trouble."

"Twin empaths? That's strange." Tsuzuki admitted.

But Hisoka felt slightly happy, knowing that there were two others in this strange family that were like him even if they weren't as strong. It was nice to know that he wasn't going to be turned away because of his empathy. He let himself relax as he continued to eat.

"How old are they?" he asked curiously.

"They're eight, like Kit and Mercy." said Leon sitting down at the table.

Hisoka found himself feeling comfortable with the two teenage boys sitting beside him as they all began to fill their plates and eat breakfast. But as he was about to take a bit of his eggs he felt something poke him in the leg. He jumped when a long grey tubular snout touched his wrist and he looked down to see a giant anteater sitting beside his chair, starring at him making him yelp and nearly fall out of his seat.

"Aldair! Don't scare the poor guy!" Lelouch sighed.

"I want eggs." the anteater said in a deep British voice, blinking at Lelouch.

Hisoka starred. 'A talking anteater? Can this place get any stranger?' he thought to himself.

"Go ahead and give him some Lelouch." said Leon with a smile.

Hisoka watched as Lelouch took a large serving spoon and filled it with eggs.

"Here Aldair." he said, trying not to spill anything.

Hisoka's eyes went wide as he watched the anteater's snout split open to reveal and array of long, thin, spike like fangs, dripping with drool as he let out a strange growl.

"Umm.... I don't think that's normal." Hisoka said, scooting away a little, feeling himself tense up again.

"It's not." Leon said honestly. "Aldair was the result when Malachai was given the opportunity to experiment with creation."

"But he's a wonderfully cuddly friend." Lelouch said as he poured the spoonful of eggs right into Aldair's mouth who then snapped it shut and chewed with a cheery growl.

"Should I worry about anything eating me in my sleep while I'm here?" Hisoka asked looking at Leon, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"No, nothing will eat you in your sleep. While there are several things that can, nothing will." Leon said reassuringly.

"I asked that same question when I got here." said Lelouch with a smile. "We've got strange pets in the family. Suzaku has a guardian named Sunny and an arctic wolf named Jurri."

"Uncle Trowa has a timber wolf with bat wings that hangs out of trees." said Mercy. "His name's Jinx."

"Grandpa Ashtor used to have a big fat doggie named Pup Pup." said Kit with a giggle.

"Speaking of Grandpa Ashtor, where is he?" Leon asked, looking around.

"I'll go get him." said Suzaku. Then he got up and headed upstairs.

"So how many people live here?" Tsuzuki asked.

"There's usually only six of us." said Leon. "Me, Sahara, Lelouch, Kit, Mercy, and grandpa Ashtor. Sahara had to leave for work early this morning, and Suzaku comes over to spend the night a lot."

"I've been friends with Suzaku since we were ten." said Lelouch. "Now we're cousins."

"Every time I hear Suzaku I keep thinking of the firebird with an attitude." Hisoka admitted.

Lelouch gave him a curious look. "A firebird?"

"She's one of my shikigami. Suzaku's the guardian of the south gate, but Hisoka's right, she's got quite the attitude. Especially towards Touda." Tsuzuki admitted.

"I thought they've always held hostilities towards each other." Leon said.

"It's gotten worse." Tsuzuki sighed.

Just then they heard a loud thud and "Fuck it all!" making them all jump.

"What was that?!" Hisoka gasped. He was unable to feel emotions and it was seriously bothering him. he never thought he'd feel so lost without his empathy, but now, he felt like he was alone in the dark.

"Did you hit your head again grandpa?" Leon called into the other room with a smile.

Suzaku walked into the dining room with a man as tall as Leon, but he was very thin, wearing old worn brown trousers and a blue cotton shirt with brown suspenders, a hand on his head, rubbing his dark brown hair as he straightened his old looking glasses.

"He hit his head coming down the stairs." Suzaku said with a smile as he sat back down at the table beside Lelouch.

"If I've learned to duck by now, you should have too grandpa." Leon sighed.

The man just grumbled as he sat down.

"Meet Grandpa Ashtor." said Lelouch. "Not to be mixed up with Grandpa Quatre, or Grandpa Don, or Grandpa Jarrod."

"Or Abuelo Jose." said Suzaku with a laugh. "Or Farfar Ingvar."

"It'd be a pleasure to meet you both if my head wasn't pounding at the moment." the man grumbled as he piled food onto his plate.

"Oddly enough, I know how you feel." said Hisoka. "Mr. Berkenbridge made me hit my head after I made him hit his one day."

"I remember that." Leon chuckled. "I gave him a little static shock which made him jump and hit the back of his head while he was on my shoulders."

"Since when would you do something like that dad?" Lelouch asked with a raised brow.

"Since he made me jump and hit my head on the doorway after already walking face first into it." Leon sighed. "But that was forever ago."

"To you." said Hisoka pointedly. "To me it was in March."

"That's right. I forget. I didn't regain my memories until Lelouch managed to help me last year."

"How old are you really Leon?" Tsuzuki asked.

"I'm… let's see…."

"Didn't we establish that you're forty six dad?" Lelouch asked.

"Something like that."

"I've never felt so confused in my life." Hisoka mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, this family does that to you." said Suzaku. "Just hope you don't have to go to Midnightstar Sanctuary any time soon."

Hisoka looked at him with a raised brow.

"What's Midnightstar Sanctuary?" Tsuzuki asked, voicing Hisoka's question.

"That's where Grandpa Quatre lives!" said Mercy with a giggle.

"There's over thirty children living there." said Leon. "It's a children's sanctuary essentially. Dad made it for children that can't find families that will adopt them."

"You'll learn that the family has a saying." said Lelouch. "If you feel you don't belong anywhere, then you belong with the Midnightstar family."

"The only family that'll accept you no matter where you're from." said Suzaku. "Lelouch and I are pretty good examples."

"I was a tyrannical emperor." Lelouch said with a chuckle. "But there was a good reason behind it."

Hisoka starred. "A tyrannical emperor where?" he asked slowly, wondering if he should start moving his chair away.

"In grandpa Quatre's old world!" said Kit. "There was a place called Britannia instead of the United States."

"Yeah, I was exiled as a kid, and then I overthrew my father, and then I made the whole world hate me by pretending I was evil, and then I had Suzaku attempt to kill me." Lelouch explained. "An Unconventional way to bring peace to the world, but from what I've heard, it actually worked. Of course I figured I'd actually be dead until I woke up to Grandpa Ashtor checking my fever."

"It was weird, cause first I was his friend, then I thought he killed Euphie who's my girlfriend, she's with grandpa Quatre out in California. But then we became enemies, and we kept trying to kill each other, then I became his knight, then I came here, and we were friends again, and now we're cousins."

"Of course, you notice now we're cousins and you're dating my actual half sister who's essentially our adopted aunt?" Lelouch asked Suzaku.

"I never thought of it that way." Suzaku muttered curiously.

"My head hurts from that." Hisoka muttered, resting his chin on his hand, his elbow resting on the table.

"Don't feel bad, we stopped trying to figure things out years ago. I'm my adopted little brother's godfather and my dad shares a body with my best friend." Leon sighed. "Tsuzuki's basically a surrogate son, but he's a good fifty some odd years older then me. I'm older then my parents too."

"How does that even work?" Hisoka mumbled. His head now felt as scrambled as the eggs on his plate that he was pushing around with his fork.

"As I said before, we've given up trying to figure out who's related to who in what way." Leon sighed.

"Gee, I wonder why." Hisoka muttered somewhat sarcastically.

"The only side of the family that makes any sort of sense is mom's side of the family." said Lelouch. "They're relatively normal."

"If you don't count the fact that her father's family all come from Mexico city and her mother's side all come from Vedebykvarn Sweden." Leon pointed out.

"But who's related to who is all normal." Suzaku pointed out.

"He does have a point." Grandpa Ashtor pointed out.

"Yeah, but remember Sahara's quinceañera?" Leon sighed. "I don't know how anyone understood each other. It was like, sixty Mexicans with forty Swedes."

"Yes, and you tossed into the middle of it all. I found it all quite amusing, everyone trying to understand each other's broken English." Grandpa Ashtor chuckled.

"What's a quinceañera?" Tsuzuki asked.

"It's a Latin thing." Leon muttered. "It's the daughter's fifteenth birthday. Which is why I'm glad Mercy's got another seven years to go."

Mercy giggled.

"Abuelo Jose said he plans to go all out for his only granddaughter's quinceañera." Lelouch told Hisoka with a smile.

"I think it's funny cause I'm a Britannian like Louie!" Mercy giggled. "Not Mexican."

"But you're still Papa Jose's only granddaughter." said Leon. "Mind you I never figured out how Papa Jose and Pappa Ingvar get along. Let alone understand each other."

"So does you're wife speak both languages fluently?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Yeah, of course it's bad enough when she starts speaking Spanglish which is mixing Spanish and English. I don't there's a word for mixing Swedish and English, let alone Spanish and Swedish."

"When mom does that I get a headache." Lelouch admitted. "What would you call that anyway?"

"I don't know, Spandish?" Suzaku suggested. "Swenish? How about when Aunt Sahara starts going in all three languages at once?"

"What would that be? Spingdish?" Lelouch asked. "I know Sharrissa does the Spanglish thing a lot since her mom's Puerto Rican."

"Just trying to figure out how you mix all three languages is making my head hurt." Hisoka sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple. "Considering just two of them aren't anywhere close to each other."

"Try listening to it. Even I can't decipher half of what she's saying and I speak every language known to man." Leon admitted.

"The only ones that can kind of understand when she does that are Kit and Mercy because Sahara's been teaching them both languages." said Grandpa Ashtor.

"I'm too old to learn another language." Lelouch admitted.

"Why would you have to, you're like Uncle Leon now, you speak every language known to man." Suzaku pointed out. "I on the other hand am perfectly happy speaking only English and Japanese."

Hisoka looked at Suzaku in curiosity. "You speak Japanese?"

"Well not as well as I used to. You have to remember that my dad was prime minister of Japan at the time so I had to learn English anyway, then Britannia invaded Japan and I stopped speaking it entirely." Suzaku said.

"So is there anything relatively normal about this family?" Tsuzuki asked.

"No." everyone said in unison.

"We have the king of the demons of hell for a father." said Lelouch. "And he flies fighter jets for the navy, and so does Grandpa Quatre who shares a body with Uncle Malachai. Just between the two of them things aren't normal, let alone the rest of the family.

"For some strange reason I feel like I fit in perfectly with this family." Hisoka said, honestly, feeling himself smile, unsure of why he'd say such a thing.

"That's because you're a guardian of death." said Lelouch. "You're basically a Japanese version of Miss Vi….."

"Don't say her name!" Leon said quickly, cutting him off, making Lelouch laugh. "You know she'll appear out of nowhere for no reason if you do!"

"Miss Vivian is just like Miss Sarafi." said Suzaku with a grin.

"And Suzaku." said Tsuzuki with a smile.

Just then three women appeared next to Leon, one Hisoka recognized was Sarafi, One was obviously Suzaku and the other was in the black silk uniform with black wings which he assumed was Vivian.

"Hi Master Alistair!" the all giggled loudly making him yelp and tumble sideways taking his seat to the floor with him making everyone laugh.

"Even after sixty years that never gets old." Suzaku giggled.

"Oh ha Suzaku!" Leon grumbled.

"I feel kinda weird looking at a lady named Suzaku." Suzaku muttered.

"I usually call her Suzaku nii-san." said Tsuzuki honestly.

"And we call you Suzu." said Mercy smiling at the boy Suzaku.

"And I'm going to waste my day by going back to bed." Leon grumbled standing up, but as he began to walk out of the room Sarafi, Suzaku and Vivian pounced on Leon sending him tumbling back to the floor. "LEGGO!" he snapped with a nasty tiger like roar.

With such a sudden outburst from the demon, Hisoka felt glad that he was missing his empathy at the current moment, and he was pretty sure he didn't want to know what the girls were feeling either.

"Come now ladies, get off of him." Aldair said, taking hold of Suzaku's collar in his teeth and dragging her off.

"Hi Aldair!" she said, throwing her arms around the anteater's neck before tugging at his cheeks. "You're still such a cutie aren't you?"

"Maybe so, but that doesn't mean you harass Leon." Aldair sighed. "Especially not now that's he's married."

All three of them stood up and starred as Leon sat up with a grumble.

"You're married?!" the three of them chorused.

"Yes, and you're lucky my wife isn't home!" Leon snapped.

"Because he'd be the one to suffer the consequences of having three ladies tackle him." Grandpa Ashtor chuckled, continuing to finish his breakfast.

"Why does it feel like these sort of things are a common occurrence in this house?" Hisoka asked as everyone else besides him and Tsuzuki continued eating their breakfast.

"Just wait till you meet Uncle Nicky, Uncle Cory, and Aunt Lori." said Lelouch with a smile. "They're Uncle Malachai's siblings."

"Quadruplets." said Suzaku. "Malachai, Nicolai, Coralai and Loralai. Hence, Nicky, Cory, and Lori. Of course Uncle Malachai doesn't really have a nickname since you can't make one out of Malachai."

"I guess that makes sense." Hisoka muttered, watching Leon growl at the Angel of death, the Guardian of the South gate, and the Knight.

Leon soon got up and stomped his way out of the room and up the stairs leaving the three girls starring after him.

"Well what's gotten into him." Suzaku huffed, crossing her arms against her chest.

"He's tired Miss Suzaku." said Lelouch.

"Lelouch is right. Besides, you of all people should know better then to pester him Sarafi." said Grandpa Ashtor sternly. "He's still recovering from what happened in January. Technically speaking, he should still be grounded from flying so the three of you really shouldn't be tackling him."

"Grandpa, can we go play upstairs?" Kit asked.

"As long as the two of you go rinse your plates in the sink." said Grandpa Ashtor.

"Yes sir!" they both said, then they got up and left the room with their plates.

"What happened in January?" Hisoka asked in curiosity.

"Dad almost died." said Lelouch. "He was shot down in Russia and taken prisoner."

"Uncle Leon took a broad sword to the chest to save Grandpa Quatre." said Suzaku. "He would've died if Lelouch hadn't of figured out how to bring back his memories and his powers."

Hisoka suddenly remembered when Leon had taken Machitehew's claws through his chest to save him. Apparently it was a habit for the man. "I remember when he did the same thing for me." he said honestly.

"Master Alistair and Tsuzuki are much alike in that aspect." said the female Suzaku honestly as she took a seat in Leon's chair. "They sacrifice their sanity and their lives for the ones they love."

"I think it runs in the family." said Grandpa Ashtor honestly. "If you ever see an X-ray of Quatre's chest, he's missing three ribs where he took a chunk of glass in the chest to save one of Leon's sister's who's a cop. If it weren't for Malachai being immortal, Quatre would've died instantly."

"Hisoka jumped into Touda's flames to rescue me a year ago." said Tsuzuki.

"Tsuzuki always puts himself in harm's way to protect me." said Hisoka honestly. "Even after we first met."

"Suzaku was completely suicidal and he ran at a machine gun to help me save my sister Nunnally." said Lelouch looking at his cousin who turned red.

"Suicide also seems to run in the family." Suzaku admitted.

"Suicide run in a family? That's pretty sad." Hisoka mumbled, wondering how such a thing could occur. Just knowing Tsuzuki had been so suicidal had it's effects on him, let along if there was a whole family.

"I died of an accidental overdose on Morphine. Not my brightest idea considering I was a doctor, but it happened." Grandpa Ashtor sighed. "After my brother Cameron died, My brother Travis and their Uncle Braydon met in a bar and tried to drink themselves to death. Of course they only succeeded in passing out and waking up at Abby's place with massive hangovers."

"Uncle Braydon would keep getting himself sent out to the front lines during WWII trying to die." said Suzaku. "I kinda did the same thing."

"I had Suzaku basically kill me." said Lelouch. "And I believe Grandpa Quatre tried to commit suicide like…. Four times as a kid, after his older brother committed suicide by running out in front of a bus."

"And you thought your past was disturbing because you tried to commit suicide seventy years ago?" Hisoka mumbled, looking at Tsuzuki.

"That makes me feel relatively normal." Tsuzuki admitted.

"Oddly enough, I do too." Hisoka sighed.

Just then the doorbell rang.

"Tanya and the other's are here!" said Lelouch happily as he and Suzaku jumped up and ran out of the room to answer the door.

Hisoka sat in his seat, stunned as he blinked. "What…. Was…. That?" he asked slowly.

Grandpa Ashtor chuckled as he picked up his dishes.

"Lelouch's girlfriend and their group of friends." he said, standing up. "Mr. Tsuzuki, would you mind checking on Leon for me? He should be up in his office which is up in the attic. Hisoka, would you mind helping me do the dishes?"

"Sure." Hisoka mumbled, picking up the plates as Tsuzuki headed upstairs.

"And I believe the three of you have jobs to do, so I shall say good day to you ladies." Grandpa Ashtor said, with a kind smile and a nod at the three women.

"Have a good day Ashtor." the three of them said. Then they disappeared.

"What a breakfast." Hisoka mumbled, carrying the stack of plates into the kitchen with Grandpa Ashtor.

"You'll get used to it young man." he said with a smile.

"How old are you Mr. Ashtor?" Hisoka asked curiously as he set the dishes in the sink that was being filled with warm soapy water.

"I just turned ninety this year. Of course, I did die back in 1982, and I just recently finished my redemption but either way, I'm still ninety." he said with a smile as he scrubbed the dishes and began placing them in the dishwasher. "And you can call me Grandpa Ashtor like everyone else."

"Okay."

"Don't worry, this family was created for people like you and I." said Grandpa Ashtor.

"And what are we exactly?" Hisoka asked in curiosity, looking up at the giant.

"Troubled people that feel rejected from society because of their pasts." he said with a smile, leaning over enough that their faces were only inches apart. "People that want to know that someone loves them despite everything, just like you."

Hisoka starred into the man's deep brown eyes for a moment before smiling. "What a wonderful family." he said softly.

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Ginger: I hope you guys like this, if so, please leave a review! Thanks!


	4. Tap dancing assassins and summer plans

Disclaimer: I don't own Hisoka, Tsuzuki, Lelouch, Suzaku, or Lloyd for that matter since his name keeps popping up.

Ginger: Okay, like I said, this story will get better, it's just something of an awkward transition. But I hope you guys enjoy it. Like I said, if you like it, write a review, if you want to be mean, keep it to yourself. Thanks everyone!

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After helping Grandpa Ashtor clean up the dining room, he headed upstairs to the room he woke up in. He found Shasta quietly dozing on his bed. He sat down beside her and gently scratched behind her ears.

"What's up Soka?" she asked with a grin.

"Nothing, I just feel a little…..lost." he sighed a little. "This family's insane."

"Oh well, you get used to it." she said with a smile.

Just then there was a knock on the door. Then Lelouch walked into the room.

"Hey, you coming?" Lelouch asked with a smile.

Hisoka looked bewildered. "Coming where?"

"We've got tap lessons with Uncle Trowa in a half an hour. Are you coming?" Lelouch asked again.

"Tap lessons? I don't dance." he said flatly.

"Neither do any of us. Friday was our first lesson, we're only on our second lesson, so you're not far behind. We're all still having trouble with the basics so you can come watch us make fools of ourselves."

"I think I'll pass." Hisoka mumbled.

"Oh go on Hisoka, have fun!" said Shasta. "You're here to have fun!"

"Yeah, you don't have to take the lessons, just watch." he said with a smile. "Come on though, my friends really want to meet you."

"How many friends" Hisoka asked slowly.

"Well there's only six of us. Seven if you add yourself." said Lelouch. "There's me, Suzaku, Tanya, Sharrissa, DeShawn, and Luis. Well, eight with Uncle Trowa, but he doesn't really count cause he's our teacher."

Hisoka still felt quite unsure.

"I don't know….."

"Oh come on Hisoka, Shasta's right, you're here to have fun! Uncle Trowa bought this old dance studio by the river that had been closed for years and now he gives us lessons there. so we're just going to walk down there since it's such a nice day and we can have lunch down there too. Don't you want to laugh at us Hisoka?"

"It's always good to laugh." said Shasta.

Hisoka said nothing, he just sat there, absentmindedly scratching behind Shasta's ears.

"Don't you laugh?" Lelouch asked with a frown.

"Not really." he said honestly. "There was never much of a reason to really laugh in my life."

"Then maybe it's time you did." said Lelouch with a smile.

Hisoka tensed when Lelouch reached forward and grabbed his wrist. But he didn't feel anything. He looked at Lelouch in curiosity.

"If you're worried about your empathy, that's easy enough." said Lelouch with a reassuring smile. "I may not be as strong as dad yet since I just recently became a demon, but I can still make a decent barrier with a good fifteen foot radius. So come on."

After a moment's hesitation, Hisoka let Lelouch pull him off the bed and out of the room, leading him down the hall to another room.

When Hisoka walked into Lelouch's room, he couldn't help but stare at the group in front of him.

There was a girl with bouncy red curls and green eyes sitting on the bed with Aldair and a tiger, a Hispanic girl with black hair, covered with bright blonde highlights sitting beside Suzaku, and there was a Hispanic boy and a black boy.

"Guys meet Hisoka." said Lelouch with a smile. "Hisoka, these are our friends. Tanya."

"Hi there!" said the red head.

"Sharrissa." he said pointing to the other girl.

"Pleasure!" she said with a grin and a wink.

"DeShawn."

"Hey!" said the black boy.

"And Luis."

"Hey man, nice to meet you."

"So are you coming to tap lessons with us Hisoka?" Sharrissa asked.

"I guess I'll come along and watch." he mumbled shyly.

"Watch? You don't want to dance with us?" Tanya asked.

"Even if I did, I don't have dance shoes." Hisoka pointed out.

"Well you and Lelouch are about the same size. Maybe your shoe sizes are close, and if so, then Lelouch has a spare set of tap shoes you could borrow." said Aldair.

"That's a great idea Aldair." said Tanya.

Hisoka was quickly feeling unsure about what he was getting himself into as Lelouch began to dig in his closet. He turned to his left, and jumped when he found himself face to face with a strange squid like creature in a large tank.

"Umm….. What is that?" he mumbled, starring at it.

"That's Lelouch's pet cuttlefish." said Luis.

"My Uncle Jake get's them for me when he goes diving overseas." came Lelouch's voice from inside the closet.

Hisoka looked closely at the strange creature who fanned out it's tentacles at him.

"That one's Squishy." said Lelouch making Hisoka jump.

"Squishy? You name the things?" Hisoka mumbled with a raised brow.

"He's a weird one." Luis said.

"Gee, thanks Luis." Lelouch muttered sarcastically. Then he held out a pair of brown and white shoes. "Here Hisoka, try them on."

After a moment's hesitation Hisoka took the shoes, and slipped the right one onto his foot.

"How does it fit?" Suzaku asked.

"It fits fine." Hisoka mumbled. "It just feels weird with these tap things on the bottom."

"Yeah, but that's what makes the sounds." said Suzaku with a smile. "You need the taps. But that's why we don't walk in them."

Just then Leon's voice drifted upstairs.

"You guys better get going or you're going to be late!" he called.

"Okay, come on guys!" said Suzaku hopping up.

Soon Hisoka found himself taking a walk down towards the river on a sunny day with the strange group with a pair of tap shoes in his hand.

"Oye, ¿quién quiere empanadas para el almuerzo?" Sharrissa asked as they walked in down the sidewalk.

Hisoka felt confused, with no idea of what the girl said.

"Empanadas for lunch? I have yet to find a place that makes empanadas as good as Jose Abuelo." said Lelouch.

"Tiene un punto Sharrissa. Nadie hace las empanadas como José abuelo." Luis told her.

"I suppose your right. When is Jose Abuelo coming for a visit anyway Lelouch?" Sharrissa asked.

"Sometime next week. Why? Are you planning on joining us for dinner?" Lelouch asked with a smile.

"Jose Abuelo does make some of the best Mexican food ever." Tanya pointed out.

"That's cause he's from Mexico city." Suzaku said.

Hisoka felt left out of the conversation. "What's an empanada anyway?" he finally asked.

"Empanadas are like…. Fried dough with different fillings." said Sharrissa. "Jose Abuelo's are so good because he makes the dough fresh. Most restaurants buy the pre-made packages and stuff."

"Think of it like a really big fried dumpling." Suzaku said. "With flaky crust."

"That actually sounds kinda interesting." Hisoka admitted. "So Jose Abuelo makes Mexican food?"

"Yeah, it was new to us too." Lelouch asked.

"Their house is like a complete mixture of culinary cultures." said Sharrissa. "Papa Berkenbridge makes British food, plus he really knows how to cook period. Mama Sahara can cook both Mexican and Swedish food and Grandpa Ashtor can cook good old American home cooking."

"Grandpa Ashtor makes the best fried chicken." said Luis.

"And meatloaf." pointed out DeShawn.

"I can already tell that staying here is going to confuse me more then anything else in my life." Hisoka sighed.

"Hey, at least you came from this world. Try relearning two hundred and forty years of history." said Suzaku. "Which meant forgetting everything that went on between 1776 and now, learning about 43 presidents making a total of 44 terms in place of 28 emperors, eight wars caused by people that never existed in our world and a type of government that was practically non-existent where we came from."

"So you're saying I'm lucky I'm not in school?" Hisoka said.

"No Papi! He's saying your lucky that you're world history is essentially the same class as ours here." said Sharrissa. "Where they came from, not even Emperor Hirohito existed. Japan never went to war because of WWI or WWII."

"No they were just invaded and stripped of all culture and identities." said Lelouch. "But if you really want to know Britannian History you'd have to ask Grandpa Quatre. I fell asleep in class more often then not."

"Why would your Grandpa Quatre know more?" Hisoka asked with a raised brow.

"Because he was a Britannian general. He was head of all Logistics and intelligence for the entire empire." said Suzaku. "He's the one that discovered that Britannia was giving him fake information trying to justify their invasions."

Hisoka felt more confused then ever. His head was beginning to hurt as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm still lost." he admitted with a sigh.

"You will be for a while." said Tanya as they began to walk past a bunch of small shops and little stretches of sandy beaches full of families.

"Hey! We should totally take Hisoka to Virginia beach one day while he's here!" said Luis

"I'm not really one for beaches." Hisoka mumbled, trying to be polite. He could easily see himself as the boy sitting on a chair under an umbrella, a long sleeved tee shirt and jeans hiding his pale skin while everyone else played in the water. "Especially not crowded ones."

"Not a people person eh Papi?" Sharrissa asked with a smile.

"Why do you call me that?" Hisoka asked, starring at her strangely.

"Papi? It's just a nickname." she shrugged. "I call most of the guys that at one time or another."

"It's true." said Lelouch. "You'll get used to her after a while."

"Oi! Used to me? It'll take longer to get used to you." Sharrissa said with a smile.

"Hey, Just because I was a tyrant, that doesn't mean that I'm not closer to normal then you." said Lelouch. Then he paused thoughtfully. "Wait. Did that make sense?"

"No. So I'd just shut up at this point Lelouch." said Luis with a smile.

"Whatever." Lelouch sighed.

"Can this family get any stranger?" Hisoka sighed.

"Yeah, today we're meeting Uncle Trowa, he's a the tap dancing CIA assassin of the family." said Suzaku with a smile. "And we have an underground assassin in the family too."

Hisoka just sighed. "I shouldn't have asked."

"Just be glad we've already had our yearly family reunion." said Lelouch. "Then we've got about two hundred family members getting together."

Hisoka didn't even want to try and imagine such a large family of unusual strangers. The small group he was with now was already more then he could really handle if it weren't for Lelouch's weak shield.

"Hey, we made it right on time." said Tanya as they stopped in front of an old one story building.

Hisoka felt very apprehensive about the whole situation as they walked into the building and stopped at the open doorway of a dance studio.

"That's uncle Trowa." said Lelouch breaking into Hisoka's thoughts. "And Marina."

Hisoka peeked into the door to see a young brown haired man with a blonde woman dancing together to fast instrumental music.

They watched as the two danced so fast that they couldn't see the minute movements of their feet but they could hear the quick taps.

Then the man started flipping the girl over his shoulders.

"I think we forgot to mention Uncle Trowa's an international lindy hop champ." Sharrissa whispered as Hisoka watched in awe.

"Well it's about time you guys got here." said the man when he saw them.

"We're right on time." said Lelouch pointing to the clock.

Trowa looked at the clock. "So you are. Blame my ADHD for making me impatient." he shrugged with a smile. "So are you guys ready for the lesson?"

"After we put our shoes on." said Tanya as they all walked into the room.

"And I see you guys brought someone new with you." said Trowa with a grin.

"This is Hisoka." said Sharrissa gently nudging him so he'd walk forward.

"Hi." he mumbled softly, looking down at the floor.

"Ah, a quiet one huh? Well we'll get him out of that!" said Trowa with a laugh.

"What if I want to stay quiet?" Hisoka muttered.

"Yeah, Lelouch tried that and look at what happened." said Suzaku.

"Kit too, now he's one of the most talkative little guys in the family." said Trowa. "Just be happy you're meeting me and not like…. Gino or Lloyd."

"Gino?"

"You don't even want to know." Suzaku sighed. "And Lloyd's even worse."

"No thanks then." Hisoka sighed, sitting down on the bench beside Sharrissa.

"So how come you're here for lessons if you don't seem to want to be here?" Marina asked.

"We dragged him out of the house." said Lelouch.

"Yeah, literally." Hisoka sighed, putting on the tap shoes.

"I grabbed one arm." said Lelouch.

"And I grabbed the other and we dragged him out of the house with a little push out the door from Topi." said Sharrissa with a smile.

Trowa laughed. "Wonderful." he sighed with a smile. "I love getting people out of their comfort zones."

"You eliminate all forms of a comfort zone the minute you walk into a room Trowa." Marina said with a smile.

"Yes and it's so much fun too!" he giggled childishly as he skipped and twirled around like a child. Then his laugh escalated to an insane laugh.

"Maybe I should go." Hisoka said standing up, unnerved by the man and suddenly very glad that he didn't have his empathic abilities telling him just how insane this man is.

"Now look what you did Uncle Trowa." Lelouch sighed.

Hisoka jumped a little when someone gently grabbed his wrist. He looked down to see Sharrissa smiling at him.

"Give him a chance Hisoka, he's a bit nutty, but isn't Mr. Tsuzuki?" she asked with a comforting smile.

Hisoka thought for a moment. "I… I guess."

"Then stay."

" Alright. If only because I don't know how to get home." he said honestly as he sat back down.

"Mr. Tsuzuki? Now why does that name sound so familiar?" Trowa muttered thoughtfully.

"Maybe because dad partnered with him when he was sent to the Japanese Ministry of Hades a long time ago?" Lelouch suggest.

"Ah yes! I recall Leon referring to him as a sweet toothed idiot." said Trowa with a snap of his fingers.

"That's Tsuzuki alright." said Hisoka with a small smile.

"Ha!" Trowa laughed. "I've heard some funny stories about the guy. And now that I think about it, I believe I've heard of you too Hisoka Kurosaki!"

Hisoka starred. "You've heard of me?"

"Yes. You're an empath of incredible caliber, mind you that's a danger in a family like ours." Trowa pointed out. "Compared to some in this family, I'm relatively normal. I just end up hyper which is why I'm on medication. But there are others in the family that aren't so happy. Leon's a perfect example. My father is one as well. Or even Suzaku here and you don't even want to feel Cameron's wrath when Travis makes him angry."

"I can feel Uncle Cameron when he get's angry." said Lelouch pointedly. "He's a grouchy guy."

"No, Travis is a grouchy guy." Trowa said.

"No, Uncle Travis just had a bad mouth."

"Ha! The street's are cleaner then Travis's mouth!" Trowa laughed.

"I'm going to tell him you said that." said Marina with a smile.

"Do I even want to know how bad the guy's language is?" Hisoka muttered.

"Remember when Grandpa hit his head this morning and he shouted the F-word?" Lelouch asked with a smile.

"Yes……" Hisoka said slowly.

"Imagine something along those lines but like…. God damned stupid f-ing wall, and then more cuss words to follow." said Suzaku. "Uncle Travis has always been known for having a foul mouth."

"Dad get's that way occasionally." Lelouch said with a smile. "But then it's funny because he talks in acronyms."

"Acronyms?"

"Yeah, his usual response to his Rio Tony when he'd say something stupid was 'STFU Tony your brain is FUBAR.'" said Trowa with a smile.

"STFU? FUBAR?"

"FUBAR's like…. A favorite acronym between Dad, Uncle Braydon and Uncle Jake." said Lelouch.

"Why? What is it?"

"Fucked up Beyond all recognition." said Trowa. "And STFU is basically Shut The Fuck Up. Having military in the family, you learn all these great little acronyms for when things are just completely over the top."

"Maybe I should start using STFU with Tsuzuki when he goes a little overboard." Hisoka said with a chuckle.

"Mr. Tsuzuki does seem to be the type that would go overboard." said Luis. "We were talking to him earlier."

"He's….. something else I guess." Hisoka sighed, unsure of how else to word it.

"Well so's the rest of the family." shrugged Trowa. "Now then, let's get to the lesson shall we?"

Hisoka felt unusually odd trying to learn simple tap moves. But before long, he found himself feeling comfortable. It appeared that he had a natural talent for tapping and soon, he was moving on to small combination moves while the others still got confused trying to figure out the basic rhythms.

Of course, then things had to get complicated. At one point Luis lost balance and he tipped over, accidentally knocking over Sharrissa who went stumbling to the side and into Hisoka where they both fell, Sharrissa landing on Hisoka's back as he sat face first on the floor.

"Thanks for breaking my fall Hisoka." she said happily as she got up.

"No problem." Hisoka sighed as he sat up shaking his head. He was surprised through when she helped tug him off the floor from behind.

"Maybe it's time to end this lesson for today." said Trowa looking at the clock. "We've already been here for two hours."

"Sounds good to us." said Suzaku, sitting on the bench and taking off his shoes.

"Yeah, I'm getting hungry." said DeShawn doing the same.

Soon everyone had changed back to their regular shoes and after saying goodbye to Trowa and Marina they all left, walking back towards the shops for lunch.

"It's definitely pretty out here." Hisoka said honestly as they all sat together on the sidewalk beside a small stretch of beach that stopped underneath a large bridge across the river.

That had all gotten themselves sandwiches and drinks with a large container of fries to share, Lelouch offering to get Hisoka's lunch when he pointed out that he had no money.

"This is our first summer here." said Luis. "We all moved out here from San Diego California."

"Together?"

"Yeah. All of our Parents were transferred from the U.S.S. John C. Stennis to The U.S.S. George H.W. Bush which is the newest fleet of the carrier." said Sharrissa.

"It definitely makes the move easier when your friends go with you." said Lelouch with a smile.

"I suppose it would." Hisoka admitted, wishing he could've had such a close group of friends his own age before he had died.

"So does anyone have any idea what we should do this summer?" said Suzaku. "After all, it's our first summer here and we didn't get to see much since we had school."

"I say we take a trip up to D.C. so Hisoka can see the museums and stuff up there." said Lelouch.

"That would be fun, we could make it a weekend trip!" said Luis.

"I say we go take a harbor tour down in Norfolk one day. We could always catch a ride with one of our parents down there." said DeShawn. "You know, spend the day at the marine science center, then take a harbor tour past all the ships?"

"That's a great idea DeShawn." said Tanya.

"Agreed." said Lelouch.

"How about Colonial Williamsburg? It's right up the street but we never really got to go even though our parents got us yearly passes." said Sharrissa.

"Also a good idea." said Lelouch. "Hey! How about a trip down to Newport news to see Grandma Kallie and Grandpa Jarrod?"

"When do we ever disagree on visiting Grandma Kallie and Grandpa Jarrod?" Suzaku asked.

"Yeah, we get to play with the animals they've rescued, and she makes the best tex-mex around." said DeShawn.

Hisoka just smiled as he quietly ate his lunch, listening to everyone suggestions as one of Tsuzuki's questions kept going through his mind.

"Wouldn't you like to be a normal kid, with friends that only spend their summer days wondering what to do instead of wondering who's soul you have to take next?" Tsuzuki had asked.

'Yes I would Tsuzuki, and I'm thoroughly enjoying this chance.' he thought to himself as the other's planned their summer.

"I say we have a Phineas and Ferb marathon one day!" said Lelouch.

"What's Phineas and Ferb?" Hisoka asked slowly, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

"It's a show on T.V. You'd have to watch it to get it." Sharrissa explained with a smile.

"Okay then……."

"Alright, I say we go back to my place and try and plan out the summer." said Lelouch.

"After we finish eating." said Luis, through another bite of his sandwich.

"Definitely after we finish eating." said Lelouch making everyone laugh.

And with that Hisoka finally felt that he was about to have the summer adventure of a lifetime, and one he'd thoroughly enjoy, despite his uncertainties.

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Ginger: Okay, now the adventure's really about to begin so I hope you guys continue to read on! Thanks!


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